United Kingdom. Supermarkets with empty shelves

The situation is not new – it already happened in August – but now it seems to be intensifying as the holiday season approaches: Thousands of Britons are leaving supermarket shelves empty to find savings for Christmas.

Earlier in the week, according to international media, the British were already panicking over the purchase of chickens, with frozen chicken sales up more than 400%. What’s more, the latest data from the National Statistics Office (ONS) reveals that eight million Britons were unable to buy essential foods from September 22 to October 3.

Adding this data is the latest survey conducted by The Grocer, which shows that one-third of people have already started shopping for Christmas food and drink or plan to do so by the end of October. Two-thirds of Britons say they are still worried about the festive shortage.

But this concern is not new. In September, Y spoke with the Portuguese people living in the UK, who had already shown this concern and calculated the situation. “They say stocks for Christmas could be affected and some have already started buying turkeys to freeze for Christmas,” said Rita Ferreira, a Portuguese woman in the Ealing area northwest of London.

Problems with Brexit or infection? “It was primarily associated with Brexit, but with epidemics and locks, many European citizens who held these positions decided to leave the country and return to their families,” says Rita Ferreira. “Currently there is a shortage of lorry drivers, but other sectors such as agricultural workers and food manufacturing industries are most affected,” he explained.

Labor shortages in the UK are justified by Brexit rather than epidemic. Because immigrants are very important in this matter. The UK has been known for many years to welcome immigrants from around the world. At this point, however, the influx of new immigrants ends less bureaucratically, ”I explained to XTB researcher Henrik Tommy in September. However, there is no doubt that the epidemic is also the cause of the current situation.

Palo Rosa, senior economist at Banco Caricosa, noted that “in terms of migration flows, the current labor shortage in the UK is caused by a combination of Govt and Brexit.”

He also warns: “Some workers need to realize that the days when there were more jobs will end and employers will have to pay more to ensure available employees. Higher wages will increase undesirable inflation. To the economist, it is clear that “Brexit has caused problems in areas such as transportation, hotels and construction, and that British employers are struggling with the worst staff shortages in 25 years.”

Labor shortages are, in fact, a problem that leads to another hurdle: fuel supply. Keep in mind that recently, fuel supplies have been disrupted and panic has led customers to fill up their pumps. This problem already seems to have subsided.